Will Brownsberger — State Senator, Democrat, 2d Suffolk and Middlesex District

The Patrick administration, in collaboration with the legislature, has been doing a good job focusing on long-term financial issues. Click here for the state’s long-term financial model. In a nutshell, the model says that if we can get health costs under control and the economy continues to recover, we will be able to sustain our [...]

Hi Will … The bill passed recently preventing unions from collective bargaining on health plan design was sold by you and others on the basis that municipal managers needed the flexibility it offered in the face of rising health care costs, that benefits were unusually generous in some towns (e.g. $5 co-pays, very low premium [...]

The inter-generational fairness of the public pension system depends on the investment return assumption used in planning. This post collects resources on this subject.

There are many ideas out there about how earnings, real and expected, affect spending.  Milton Friedman’s 1957 Permanent Income Hypothesis is probably the most famous.  In its strictest form, it implies that changes in current income, such as a raise or inheritance, shouldn’t change consumption at all. That’s an awfully strong statement.  In 1989, John [...]

“…the current [pension] shortfall is attributable to the recent stock market plunge…” Hmm…first of all, the S&P 500 has doubled from its March 2009 low and is now within 40 points of its all time high (1,565 on Oct. 9, 2007).  So we are past the plunge. Second, the problem of poor returns now stretches [...]

During my recent re-election campaign, I made public employee benefit reform a high priority and, having been reappointed to the public service committee, I’ll be working hard on the issue. Ongoing input will be much appreciated.

Via Brad Delong‘s blog: http://www.cepr.net/index.php/publications/reports/the-origins-and-severity-of-the-public-pension-crisis It argues, roughly, that the current shortfall is attributable to the recent stock market plunge, that pension funds, because of their size and long-term outlook, need not and should not invest like individuals, and that the size of the shortfalls, as a share of future state receipts, is not that alarming. [...]

Key resources on this issues include: Mass Taxpayers Foundations report on municipal liabilities. Pioneer Institute White Paper: The Elephant in the Room:  Unfunded Public Employee Health Care Benefits and GASB 45.  Actuarial Valuation Reports for the Commonwealth.  Federal Reserve Bank overview brief..

Will Brownsberger’s recent posts and proposed  ideas illustrate what a thoughtful legislators does; research, consult, publicly debate and propose. He is one of the good ones. While I would go in the direction of getting the state out of the retirement business, Will is attempting to lead reform that would reshape the pension system and [...]

It’s time to eliminate half-price sales of pension benefits for special employee groups.

Given the controversy about public employee benefits, it is important to get a clear picture of how public retirement benefits compare to private retirement benefits. In a nutshell, they are much richer.

I can’t help but view the recent riots in England and Greece in the same way as I do a child creating a ruckus in Whole Foods’ after learning he won’t be getting a chocolate candy after all.  While there may be many explanations for the behavior of the rioters and the child, I contend [...]

Financial pressures and equity considerations require that the state rethink how it provides retirement security. Under the Massachusetts constitution, major changes could only be applied to new employees. An important first question in thinking through change options for new employees is: What does federal law require the state to provide to employees?

Stuart Altman, Connie Horgan and Michael Doonan from Brandeis came to the state house this week to hold an informal discussion about health care cost control with legislators and staff.

State revenues have dropped down to a new, lower trend line. We cannot expect to return to pre-recession spending levels.

It isn’t clear that major state legislation is needed to advance experimentation with new health care cost-control models in Massachusetts. It may be primarily within the proper role of the executive branch to collaborate with federal Medicare and Medicaid administrators and move forward.

I left David Chase and Jim Sloman know that I liked this article on pro-growth economic policies and asked for their comments and they had the exchange reproduced below. As a state representative, I focus on matters of state policy and especially on those matters of state policy where there is some potential for action. [...]

This continues a collection of links the people have been sending me on our long financial problems.

While Mass. has been more responsible than the poster children of state irresponsibility Michael Gerson’s column is worth noting. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/11/AR2010111106084.html?wpisrc=nl_pmopinions

David and any other readers, Please watch this Youtube video; I  know it is sensational and not nuanced but also know we can NOT continue  on the path of borrow and spend. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTSQozWP-rM&feature=related